The spaces we inhabit are capable of shaping our perspectives of the world around us. Working towards designing a better space to inhabit can help support those areas of our lives that often add negativity. For example, sometimes getting better sleep can be as simple as simple as finding a better mattress—or maybe just not sleeping on the couch! Such considerations can be made towards nearly every aspect of daily life, and nearly all aspects can be improved to better support our lifestyles and goals. Design is a topic not usually discussed within the frame of health and well-being, so let us first find some common ground for our discussion.

Defining ‘Quality’ As It Relates to Space

Finding space in your home to create a more harmonious experience can be difficult. A great example of how to maximize your approach is illustrated by the latest tiny homes craze. These homes are hardly the size of single-wide trailer homes yet their presence seems quite large. The benefits of these types of spaces aren’t easily put into words or even Scientifically compared. The best way to describe these types of spaces, for sake of discussion, are simply in terms of perceived quality. These spaces omit excess and focus on design elements that work in the most harmonious way possible to create a sense of even flow.

Applying Design to Your Life

Design is a tricky word to wrangle into an agreed-upon meaning. For our discussion, we’ll define ‘design’ as meaning action towards altering the presence of something tangible with the intent of affecting its influence over reality. This sounds quite sci-fi but is just generic enough to compartmentalize most examples. Let’s say the reality of your home experience is one of disorganization, discord, and feelings of urgency. These types of feelings can fester into every aspect of the home, as well as your life. For example, if you come home each day from work to a disarray of clothes, clutter, and litter strewn about your house—you’ll likely feel a burden towards rectifying that situation. While some may be fine with the clutter, I’d argue they are simply not in touch with the part of themselves which is bothered by it.

life is messy and things are going to get thrown about

Now, let’s be practical—life is messy and things are going to get thrown about. The key is designing space to accommodate such inevitability to limit the overall negative impact on you. Some simple tips could be adding some hampers for dirty clothes, adding extra trash baskets to certain rooms, or maybe just installing some sort of rack in your kitchen to be designated as the area for all your essentials like keys, wallets, mobile phones, and other items that often get lost. Design can help address the clutter in your life but you have to first be honest with yourself about what is affecting you. Rather than saying “I will become more organized” consider saying “I will design a better system to support my disorganization.” We are who we are, and personal change happens much slower than simply adding some supportive furniture or buying a better mattress. These types of actions are the materialization of inner intent to improve our lives. By allowing oneself to be in cadence with what needs to happen internally, one can begin to take action externally to support that transformation.

The Art of Space

Sometimes less is more but sometimes more is more. No one approach in design will accommodate every circumstance and before affecting any real change in your life you’ll need to make comprehensive assessments of what you might benefit from the most. Take a look through some of the latest articles and posts from Arch Daily to see the types of spaces that the most renowned architects are creating. You’ll note that no two spaces are alike and that no two spaces would likely provide the exact same experience. Certainly, there are motifs in the world of design that work to provide similar experience—but still, no two are alike. Your space will be uniquely conceived based on your own intention.

These are all abstractions of the human experience that aren’t often boxed into Television events or newscasts

Even if you should choose to hire a professional interior designer you’ll find that the instructions you give, the budget you set, or the directions your choose will all influence the end result greatly. In this case, you are still the designer—the professional is simply your tool. Designing spaces around us involve such inherent awareness that most find it to be quite foreign at first. It’s important to be in concord with how an inanimate object can make you feel; how a ten-foot ceiling can help you think more clearly; how original hardwood flooring can make you imagine history. These are all abstractions of the human experience that aren’t often boxed into Television events or newscasts. Don’t wait for someone to tell you how to feel—just feel how you feel in different spaces and use that knowledge to shape spaces to support your own well-being. It’s this endeavor that drives many of the world’s greatest designers. Creating beautiful spaces in the world can help one discover beautiful spaces within their self.

Final Considerations

Design is personal and very interdependent on the designer. It’s power, largely unnoticed and underappreciated, is in the ability to allow us deeper connections between the fabric of our own intentions. Furniture, mattresses, wastebaskets, and especially architecture—all these have the ability to impact our daily experience. When the spaces around us are filled with harmony, organization, and positivity those same characteristics resonate deeply within us. Just like the person speaking the loudest is often the one who has their opinion heard most often, the spaces that are most impactful towards our experiences should be addressed first. Seek to design better spaces in your home, on your desk, in your shoes, and even on your hands. There is no limit or lower threshold for which design’s impact on our lives may be limited.

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